Starting from pole position, Ishaan Dodhiwala took off with a great launch and held his position going into the first turn. He went on to drive the 12 laps of the race in the lead and took the chequered flag ahead of his 16 other competitors on the grid.ETAuto | June 20, 2016, 09:03 IST

NEW DELHI: VolkswagenVento Cup 2016’s first race kicked off with Ishaan Dodhiwala and Karminder Pal Singh tie for the top spot in championship after dominating the first round of the race.

Starting from pole position, Ishaan Dodhiwala took off with a great launch and held his position going into the first turn. He went on to drive the 12 laps of the race in the lead and took the chequered flag ahead of his 16 other competitors on the grid.

Right behind Ishaan was where the action was in the first lap as Karminder Pal Singh, starting third, overtook Keith Desouza to take second position which he held on to till the finish line.

An ecstatic race winner Ishaan said, “This is an absolutely emotional victory for me. It’s my first one and has come after having a perfect weekend so far. I had the pace throughout and I knew I could win if I made it cleanly through the first corner.”

Karminder Pal Singh commented after winning the second race of the day, “The conditions were really tough with wet track initially and then drying up. It was also the first time that we were out on wet tyres. So there was a lot to look out for while racing itself. But I managed to keep my cool and that’s a good way to sign off the weekend.”

Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport India, commented “I am extremely delighted to see the performance of the drivers today. The new ones have come very close to the experienced ones in a rather short period of time. Most importantly, they drove very clean in both the races; especially incredible to see a really matured driving from of them when the conditions were wet and tough.”

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In 2018, automobile demand remained robust despite the slowdown overcast in the last three months of year. All segments reported strong double-digit growth in the calendar year ending December 31 except passenger vehicles which reported a growth of 5 per cent. Three-wheelers sales grew fastest followed by commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, and passenger vehicles. The overall automobile sales crossed 26.7 million units for the first time.

In 2018, automobile demand remained robust despite the slowdown overcast in the last three months of year. All segments reported strong double-digit growth in the calendar year ending December 31 except passenger vehicles which reported a growth of 5 per cent. Three-wheelers sales grew fastest followed by commercial vehicles, two-wheelers, and passenger vehicles. The overall automobile sales crossed 26.7 million units for the first time.